About Me

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Small Updates Go A Long Way

A few months ago my cousin Angela contacted me about giving her some quick and easy tips on sprucing up her Living Room. Her husband is in Dental School so her budget for changes was pretty m much nothing. Here is how her Living Room was looking originally:

The only word I can think of to describe this is brown... Since her budget is almost nothing she had to keep the furniture. So she changed out the pillows and made a chevron rug by painting a $60 ikea rug.

This helped brighten up the space but it was still missing a few things.

Her main concerns were that the room felt too dark overall. In general she just wanted it lighter and brighter feeling. Here is what I suggested she should do:

* Paint the room a lighter cream color

* Add more mirrors, one over the fireplace and one where her bridal picture hung in the corner of the room.

* Paint the end table and coffee table a lighter color

* Get rid of the curtains all together

* Add some floral to the fireplace, layer on some art and add color!

* Add blues and greens where possible to balance out the warmth in the room.

Angela got right to work making some small changes that made a big difference in the space!

She bought some cute paper from Paper Source and covered her coffee table books to add some additional pattern to the space. Angela also has a pillow shop on Etsy, Sew Hip and Humble, so she was able to sew the pillows herself.

She followed my advice and painted the walls a lighter color which I think helped tremendously to brighten up the space.

She got rid of the tuscan style art and candlesticks she had above her mantle and added some lighter decor. The mirror also really helps to brighten up the space.

She created the subway art to put above her shelf using a decal from this etsy shop. The art displays places that have special meaning to them and the light blue color helps cool the space down and add a lot of color!

The curtains she had before were nice but they made the room feel a little cramped. She replaced them with bamboo blinds which add a lot of texture to the space.

She followed a similar tutorial to this to make a mirror for the corner of the room. I also suggested framing a print from a calendar to add some cheap art. She bought this one.

She bought these little birds a the dollar store and painted them!

By keeping all the existing furniture and just making a few changes to accessories and art she was able to totally transform her space!